Infinite Witch Fortress Macross
by ThaiDude
Summary: In the style of 501st's story with the cast of IS and their technology. All this set to a backdrop of Space War One.
1. Feet Wet

Preamble: Note that this is a three way mashup and I couldn't find Super Dimension Fortress Macross in the category selection. And no, Robotech doesn't count.

* * *

"I remember a time when us 'Steelwings' couldn't hold a candle to them Witches but in this day and age? Well, let's just say the gap between us just got smaller, a helluva lot smaller."

-Attributed to Roy Fokker in the report of the Mayan Conflict, 2008

"They say as a witch ages, their magic wanes. They are incorrect. Or rather, they have been misled, deliberately if I might add. A witch's magic does not wane, it stabilises. Puberty makes magic volatile. That we used to force young girls to constantly sustain the peaks of their power to combat the Neuroi is a testament to our desperation and ignorance. When we finally realised our mistakes, many of that generation had already burnt themselves out. Their ability to even fly Strikers was irrevocably damaged.

[…]

Oh how proud we were at the advent of jet Strikers. We had solved the age old problem of retaining combat worthy witches. A question still remained however. How do we exploit the power peaks in witches undergoing puberty? Well ladies, I believe to have found an answer. With the over-technology of the Macross my team and I have been able to push the esteemed Dr. Miyafuji's Magical Engine Paradigm to new heights. Let me introduce you to the Infinite Stratos concept."

-Copy of an unused draft of Dr. Shinonono Tabane's Millennium Address to the Witch Council

In 1999, an alien spaceship crash landed on Earth in what is now known as South Ataria Island. Having survived not one but several Neuroi incursions, humanity was as ever ready to combat the threat that spilled out. None came, there were apparently no survivors about Alien Space Ship 1, as it was called. The advanced technology aboard thrust mankind ahead in to the future, begetting conflict all over the globe as the United Nations attempted to band its member states together in the face of another potential extraterrestrial threat. After nearly a decade of bloody conflict, the United Nations emerged as the sole military hegemony and government of the planet. As for ASS-1, it was remodelled in to the United Nations Space Defence Force flagship. Christened as the SDF-1 Macross, it was an undertaking that was a decade in the making.

That was why there was a combat air patrol flying around the south edge of South Ataria's airspace. They were a four strong formation consisting of two Witches, callsign Spellcaster, and two fighters, callsign Skull and had been told to expect company. Friendly reinforcements were being flown in to reform the legendary 501st Joint Fighter Wing, the Strike Witches. The Witches of course were like excited at the prospect of flying under such a venerable banner. That didn't mean their current patrol was not boring however.

"Man whoever thought up of night patrol is the worst."

"Just hang in there Huang," her fellow Witch said, "I hear we'll get a proper Night Witch when they arrive."

"Easy for you to say Houki, you're never tired," Huang retorted.

"If only it were so Huang. I still have nothing on the scopes."

"What about the boys?"

"What about us sparkles?" an image appeared in their HUDs.

It was the image of a blonde man in his thirties but that didn't betray the weight of a veteran in his features. That he was using colloquialisms only cemented the fact that he was not someone to be trifled with in the Houki's minds. Few pilots could call a Witch a "sparkle" and get away with it. It was the mark of a man who had out-flown and out-fought a witch.

"Nothing on our end," Huang replied, "You Steelwings see anything?"

"We're flying noses cold remember?" the man replied.

"Then what's the point of patrolling then?" Huang asked rhetorically.

Houki sighed at her flight lead's behaviour. She didn't deny that the patrol was boring and that they had agreed for the Witch unit to use their own sensors as opposed to having the Valkyries fire up their radars. Her, along with Huang, were flying their own specialised, custom-tailored Striker units derived from the Infinite Stratos concept her older sister had designed so tactically it was better for them to be the ones in the thick of it.

There were a limited number of such machines, roughly 450 of them in total. The reason for their rarity was materials in their construction. Their cores were built from an extremely rare and strange material dubbed 'fold quartz'. ASS-1 had a small stockpile of it. Most was used in research but the small amount that Shinonono Tabane had managed to squirrel away was used in her next-generation Strikers she called Infinite Stratos. Initially developed as an EVA platform, the Infinite Stratos was easily repurposed for a more militaristic purpose.

It was a powerful weapon when paired with a witch. The Infinite Stratos contained a true adaptive AI that interfaced with a witch's familiar and thus magic. A witch and her magic could be classified though they were generally unique, possessing its own quirks in line with a witch's personality. That the Infinite Stratos AI could compensate and complement a witch's magic was the miracle enabled by the over-technology of ASS-1 and supposedly Shinonono Tabane's genius. In addition to the general improvements across the board, it was VTOL capable, could operate in barometric extremes and with rapid storage handled via magic. Striker stands were still used of course but with practice IS Strikers could be deployed and stored like a witch did her familiar. This was doubly so for personal IS Strikers, the only time they required a stand was for regular maintenance. It widened the gap between a conventional jet fighter and a Witch, even if the pilot was a veteran and the witch a trainee. In fact, it could be considered the next generation of Striker technology, equivalent to the jump from prop-powered Strikers to jet-powered ones.

Houki was part of a new generation of witches that were being trained in the use of the Infinite Stratos. They still started their education from prop-based units and then moving on to the jet-based ones of course but she was just part of the select few who had been selected for Infinite Stratos training, if barely. Unlike most her peers however, she was given her own personal IS Striker simply because her older sister had made her one. Having passed with average grades from the Witch Academy and having been recruited in to the UN Spacy Witch program, she had protested, if only for the principle of the matter.

In the end there was nothing she could do it, her objections were noted then overruled by the Witch Council. At least they stuck her with her friend from an exchange program during her academy days. That she was also in possession of a personal IS was probably part of the decision, Houki mused. After all, once a personal IS Witch, forever a personal IS Witch. In many ways, they would grow, fight and live with their personal IS and to have someone she could relate to without having to go through the whole process of friendship was a blessing to Houki. That said, Huang may be brutally honest on just about everything but that didn't mean she had to antagonise their fighter complement.

To say fighter technology was always a generation behind Witches would not be incorrect. It may be true that these new Variable Fighters could match a Striker in manoeuvrability but they still lacked the sheer defensive capabilities of a combat Witch. Fighters had always made that up by firepower and range. There were few witches that had the right set of abilities to fight at 'Standoff Range', which was a few klicks. To fighters, that was 'Knife fight Range', shorter than their normal 'Dogfight Range' of a dozen klicks. Needless to say fighters had a different scale in their engagements and it was considered suicide to dogfight a Witch.

That was why when there was a pilot who could they were regarded as the best of the best and jokingly called 'Gnomes'. In their patrol right now was one of them. His name was Roy Fokker or Focker depending on where you were from and he was a Major. His last posting had been the UNS Asuka that took part in the Mayan Conflict, parts of which were still classified and would be for the next half of the century. Houki wasn't curious about the famous ace at all. It was his silent wingman.

Having practically scrambled for the hastily planned sortie, she never did quite catch his face or his name. All she knew was he was Skull-2, the XO and wingman to his flight lead. Whoever it was, it could not possibly have been Kudo Shin however. As far as she was aware, one of the pilots, and an ace, who had flown under Fokker's wing, he had been honourably discharged and sworn to secrecy over the events of the Mayan Conflict. It was thus improbable that he would still be part of Major Fokker's current flight or squadron.

"Gunsight, this is Spellcaster-2, I've picked up a bogey, at least 100 klicks out on our current heading and closing, bull's-eye 163. Do you copy, over?" Huang's report brought Houki out of her reverie.

"Copy that Spellcaster-2, this is Gunsight, we have them locked at angels 35, confirmed friendly. Intercept and bring them home, over."

Command was rather clear with what they saw and what they needed to do.

"Roger, we are moving to intercept, Spellcaster-2 out," Huang replied and switched channels, "Looks it'll all be over soon, alright boys and girls, standard intercept pattern."

"Too right sparkles," Roy returned in good humour on the radio, "Alright Spellcaster we're climbing to angels 60 and are on overwatch."

Standard intercept procedure would have the Witches form up on the package, leveraging their shields and close range weapon systems. Fighters would climb and position themselves to provide longer range interception and support. In the darkness, the Valkyries' scream grew louder as they accelerated higher. Huang barely acknowledged their departure and accelerated, Houki quickly behind her.

For reasons related to aerodynamics, efficiency, range and endurance the IS Strikers usually only materialised on her legs. Until the need to be fully combat ready was present the rest of her systems remained on standby. When they did come online numerous miscellaneous thrusters, avionics and weaponry, appeared looking like terrible metallic wings and over sized armguards. To compensate, her combat boosters kicked in and Houki drew one of her swords. Houki was a dedicated melee Witch, as opposed to Huang. Her friend's IS Striker sported bulbous tumours above her shoulders in which an energy cannon of some kind was mounted. In addition to the equally gigantic curved blades in her hands it made her a well rounded Witch more than capable of filling in for Houki's ranged weaknesses. It didn't quite make her as manoeuvrable but when you had two honking energy cannons, you usually weren't the one getting out of the way.

"Shields up," Houki spoke.

In the dark of the night, the two Witches lit up like a two streaks of red across the sky. It wasn't so much red-shifting as it was the colour of their Strikers.

"Up," Huang confirmed.

A brief, challenge, counter-challenge process later, the transport identified itself and the patrol was brought to an uneventful conclusion. Though it was late, Houki and Huang were by the cargo plane as the rear hatch opened, hoping to catch a glimpse of their new squad mates. Unsurprisingly, their direct superior, Spellcaster-1, or Major Yamada to the two, was also there.

The two young personal IS holders silently gasped when the first witch stepped off the ramp and greeted them.

"Colonel Orimura Chifuyu, I am here to take charge of the new 501st Joint Fighter Wing," she handed their superior a piece of paper who was currently the most senior Witch on site, "My orders are in this envelope Major."

"Orders have been received Colonel."

No doubt they were orders but that wasn't the thing that surprised the two young witches. It was because Colonel Orimura Chifuyu was the first IS Witch. Her hair was long, some of it ended at her shoulders where a low-tied pony tail swung down to her waist, and black like her stern and sharp eyes. There were numerous ribbons on her uniform seeing as she was the first and the best IS Witch. Serial number 001, the Byakushiki or White Knight, was the first combat IS Striker made shortly after the new millennium.

Some would say that its completion was suspiciously in time with a massive missile strike direct at what is now modern day Japan. As an aside, Fuso, along with many other countries had undergone changes in name over the years, some before but most during the U.N. Wars. It was at the tender age of fourteen that Orimura Chifuyu rushed through the takeoff procedures that would have her wield an amount of magic to rival the peak of Matron Miyafuji's power. Called the 'White Knight Incident', it also coincided with the start of the most recent period of international war and global conflict. Despite this, she is considered a poster child of all Japanese and IS Witches.

"The flight was long so I think we'll hold off on formalities tonight if that's alright with you Maya," the famous Witch spoke as if to a friend.

"I'd like that Chifuyu," the Major softened considerably and replied without even opening the envelope, "Let's get these girls to bed."

With a lazy salute, the Major, Houki and Huang led the sleepy witches to their quarters. Right now it was a temporary prefab at the local base. The 501st would rebase to the SDF-1 the following morning at the inauguration. Houki got a good look at the arriving witches. There were three of them not counting Colonel Orimura. From the insignia on their uniform, they were graduates from European Witch academies, specifically, a Britannian, a German and French. The German outranked her as the Spacy equivalent of an OF-2, a Hauptmann whereas Houki was an OF-1, a First Lieutenant. Though shorter than her, the Hauptmann had long white hair, she was that short, and red eyes. If didn't know better, Houki would have suspected the Hauptmann of albinism. The eye-patch over her left eye was also striking. As for the other two, they were both blonde and blue eyed, almost like sisters. The Brit was the one with long hair and curls whereas the French had a shorter ponytail going down only to the middle of her back and her eyes tinted towards purple. Surprisingly, they seemed to get along well despite the former being a lieutenant equivalent and a latter an OF-2 Captain. It must have been the noble bearing they possessed as they walked.

The group encountered a pair of pilots, still in their flight suits, stumbling towards their own quarters. One was still helmeted and was carrying the other pilot whom she recognised as Major Fokker. As their gazes fell on him, he lifted his head up and saluted casually with a charming smile.

"Evening ladies," even his drawl seemed charming.

The pilot helping him, and amidst the dim light she made him out to be a Captain, saluted more crisply before he spoke to his squad leader.

"Told you I should have kept the helmet on," his voice was familiar to Houki but for the life of her she couldn't remember from where, "You owe me one."

"Sure do Siscon," the Major agreed easily, "To the O-Club!"

"We just got kicked out of there Whiskey," his subordinate sighed.

"Ichika?" apparently Colonel Orimura recognised his voice.

"Yes Colonel Orimura, is something the matter ma'am?"

His words were like a slap to the Colonel's face. After all, it was his sister he was talking to. Houki should have realised it sooner but then it had been years since they'd last seen each other. It was brief but Houki managed to catch the tiny frown of the Colonel as well as Hauptmann Bodewig's tiny flash of anger. Most of the others seemed ambivalent to the whole affair. Or maybe they were all just too tired to care at this point.

"No," the Colonel answered tiredly after a beat, "No, carry on Captain."

Without further words, he saluted crisply and dragged Fokker off with him. The witches were settled in short order, most of them anyway. Houki sat at the steps leading up to their temporary barracks. She had one pilot on her mind.

"You should get to bed," the Colonel's voice sounded from behind her.

"Ma'am," Houki returned, quickly getting up.

"None of that right now Houki," her senior spoke, "Just Chifuyu is fine off-duty. How've you've been?"

"To be honest Chifuyu-sempai I didn't think I would even see him again, least of all in Spacy."

All she got was a snort and a tiny grimace in reply.

"It's because of Madoka isn't it?"

"He just couldn't let her go," Chifuyu sadly confirmed, "I believe he keeps a picture of her in his cockpit."

"I see," was all Houki managed.

"Anyway, I'm going to bed, you should do the same, magic or not you still need some sleep."

That was just like her to remember what Houki's magic was like. There wasn't much she could do about Ichika anyway. The U.N. Wars affected every one and the Orimura sibling's relationship with each other had just been another casualty, much like her own but in a different way. With that thought, Houki went to bed.

-2,944 words-


	2. Break Contact

"The one thing I remember saying at the time was along the lines of, 'Well this is what you get from a second-hand spaceship,' which as you know was not technically incorrect."

-Excerpt from _Global: a Biography_, a biography of Admiral (ret.) Bruno J. Global, 2031

"The term 'witch' is used to describe a magic capable female. To differentiate from the military unit of combat capable witches, the word is not capitalised in writing. Though all witches can use magic, not all of them have the requirements to become combat capable. In addition to this, undertaking the Witch training programs within the Academies is strictly voluntary in nature. Those who are accepted are then trained in a particular combat specialisation based on their magic.

Though generally incorrect, parts of the world are thought produce Witches that are geared towards a special area. It is generally accepted that Britannian Witches are markswomen without peer and that Asian Witches have a fixation with melee weaponry and tactics for example. Some of these generalisations are not unfounded however. Witches from the northern and southern extremes tend towards sensory magic due to the varied day-night cycles they experience over the course of a year. This makes them suited to being Night Witches. However, since each witch is unique there is no telling what kind of Witch they could ever become."

-Opening paragraphs of _Which Witch is Which_, an introductory text to combat witches

Ichika personally didn't have anything against Witches, witches or even his sister. It was more of a defence mechanism really, to fall back on crisp cool professionalism so that he could get through any encounter that held a connection to his trauma. Few people understood that, his elder sister least of all. It didn't change that his childhood trauma was so intimately linked with VF-1 Valkyrie. His parents were part of the team that developed the VF-0 prototypes. In a bungled kidnapping, Ichika was found in the cockpit of one, his hands frozen on the trigger and a bloody scene before him and by his older sister Chifuyu no less.

It was how he was the youngest Captain in the U.N. Spacy and which was impossible under normal circumstances. A combination of his hard work, connections and making-ace-in-a-day in his first sortie had landed him here, a posting at the SDF-1 Macross, the beginning and the end of it all. Hell he was even serving under Roy Fokker and his famous Skull Squadron. Major Roy Fokker was one who pioneered atmospheric Variable Fighter tactics in the U.N. That he was also a bit of an alcoholic didn't take away from it. Having held a dying loved one in his arms, Ichika understood the Major and in turn the Major understood him. It was also why they got along so well, giving off the image of opposites. The Major was an easy-going flirt of a CO on top of his age whereas Ichika was the younger uptight professional XO.

He was aware of the scuttlebutt that an old Joint Fighter Wing was being reformed but he didn't think there'd be so many familiar faces. Then again, Chifuyu-nee had a pretty big name, if anything, her appointment had already been decided for her seeing as there were no active conflicts that she could be involved in. Houki and Rin weren't a surprise seeing as they had been stationed in South Ataria just recently. Surprisingly they hadn't found out about him until last night, not that he was going out of his way to hide from them.

Sighing, Ichika started to suit up in preparation for today. He wasn't flying today. The regs mandated rest of at least twelve hours between flights and he was grateful for it on account of his late night yesterday. Besides, Roy was giving a speech today which meant his squadron was benched regardless. If Ichika was feeling slightly groggy right now then Roy must be having the mother of all hangovers. Ichika didn't envy having to give a speech under those conditions.

Even if he didn't have a flight today and was pretty much off-duty, Ichika didn't go hit the town to celebrate the launch of the Macross. There was no one he knew to celebrate with given that Roy was busy. He also knew that the Witches would also be doing a flyby so asking Houki or Rin was out of the question as well. Thus there was only one thing to do, shoot the breeze with his mechanic. His name was Dan.

Gotanda Dan was also his age, given that they had been friends since childhood. There was also no one he trusted better with any kind of technology and especially his Valkyrie. Due to having landed at Macross City's airbase instead of back on the CVS-101 Prometheus he headed towards the hangars. Ichika found his red-headed mechanic inspecting his fighter's intakes.

"How does it look Dan?"

Dan was wearing his trademark bandana to keep his long hair out of the way and turned to him.

"It's fine since you're babying the frame," Dan answered, "It'll probably last two years even if you push it at this point."

"Yeah well the last engine swap was what, a month ago?"

"December 17," that was about two months ago.

"Anyway, the Major said he's bringing a guest over so I'm glad everything's alright."

"Really? I hope it's not the brass or whatever, I don't think I spit shined my boots this morning."

"He wouldn't say but it's definitely not the brass and definitely not a woman."

"Could it be Edgar?" Dan wondered, "I hear his sister's working the bridge."

"Wouldn't bet on it," Ichika said before noticing the time, "Come on, Roy's gonna start his speech soon. It might not be good but it'll probably be hilarious if he's still hungover."

"I think it'll be amusing regardless," Dan replied.

As they were on the opposite end of the base at the moment they made use of the nearby break room for ground crew to watch Roy give his speech. Apart from themselves, there was two other mechanics there both of which were chatting with each other about how there was a VF-1D just outside sitting in one of the hangars. The TV was on and every news channel was the same. They were broadcasting the launch of the Macross. That was scheduled for the afternoon if it was going to happen. The morning was reserved for pomp and circumstance, as well as fully powering up the systems. Roy's speech about the Macross itself was rather dry, albeit informative. Ichika chalked it up as due to the subject matter as his superior officer's face lit up for his next announcement.

"And now ladies and gentlemen, I am also proud to introduce you to the newly reformed 501st Joint Fighter Wing the Strike Witches."

Amidst the raucous cheers of the crowd, the seven Witches flew over the side of the Macross in perfect formation. They were flying low enough to be distinguished by the colour of their Strikers if not their features. A streak of silver was on point, the Byakushiki, his sister's IS, followed by green and black then orange and blue with two red streaks bring up the rear. The last two he recognised as Rin and Houki though the cameraman was too busy focusing on the flight lead for him to tell them apart.

As they were coming in for another fly by, a red racing/stunt plane dropped in from high altitude. It wasn't surprising that no one paid attention to its approach. The Witches were just that captivating. Judging from its appearance Ichika wasn't at all alarmed since it was a stunt plane. It made a show of bouncing the Witches who, to their credit, split near instantaneously. They formed up on the aircraft, encircling with their weapons trained on it. In the middle of all of this Roy was shouting obscenities at the supposed pilot through his microphone. Dan was right, the speech didn't disappoint, Ichika thought. It was at least a little bit entertaining.

Entertaining as it may be, this was treated like any breach in security and eventually the pilot was forced to land. The rest of the broadcast then returned to its usual boring self and the two guys stepped out to go find Roy, if only to satisfy their curiosity. It was then to their surprise to find Roy walking towards them with another young man about their age. He was dressed in a bright red flight suit and an ascot around his neck. His hair was a short and messy black. At least the colour was a normal brown. That and he was probably the mysterious pilot who bounced the Witches earlier. Ichika didn't know whether to smack him or give him a high-five or how Roy even smooth-talked his friend out of trouble.

"Hey you two, great timing," he greeted them, "I want you to meet my junior from my stunt flying days."

"Ichijou Hikaru, pleased to meet you," the young man introduced himself.

"Captain Orimura Ichika," Ichika started then pointed to Dan, "and that's Gotanda Dan my mechanic."

"Sup."

"You don't have to be so reserved you know?" Roy pointed out.

"Hikaru is fine then Captain Orimura," the young man extended his hand.

"Whatever you say then Whiskey," Ichika remarked before shaking the offered hand, "Call me what you want."

"Cheeky Siscon," Roy replied.

"Siscon, really? I mean 'Whiskey' I understand," Hikaru jerked his thumb in Roy's direction, "Even I can smell the alcohol from here."

"Damn and here I thought I took a shower," Roy admitted amidst laughter.

"Well it's really simple," Siscon's mechanic stated matter-of-factly, "Would you like to take a tour of his cockpit?"

"It's not even his full name," Roy chipped in, "I think it sounds better in full."

"The problem is, I'm a Captain now instead of a 2nd Lieutenant," Ichika explained with a shake of his head.

"I guess that you have some memento of your sister in your cockpit then Ichika," Hikaru concluded.

"Just a photo."

"That he kisses before taking off," Roy added.

"What? Those are baseless accusations!" Ichika exclaimed.

"Of course," Dan appeared to agree.

That Ichika did not deny anything was left unsaid.

"So now that we're all well acquainted and everything," Roy gestured for the boys to accompany him, "How about we go flying?"

"Flying one of those?" Hikaru seemed excited, "Really?"

"Don't tell me," Ichika started.

"Yep, got the paperwork and all that boring stuff done last week," Roy confirmed, "Alright hop in!"

Ichika just watched open mouthed as Roy helped Hikaru in to a VF-1D. The VF-1D was a two-seater variant and the fact that it was sitting in the same hangar as his VF-1J and Roy's VF-1S was probably not a coincidence. Unlike their planes however, the two-seater was obviously unarmed. That Roy arranged for all this just for Hikaru's benefit was telling. He even had his helmet waiting inside the cockpit. However, no sooner had he gotten the electrics running did an air raid siren sound.

"Seriously?" Roy complained and threw his arms up.

"The Macross is lighting up," Dan shouted from the hangar entrance, "She's going to General Quarters, Skull Squadron is to scramble."

"Alright, sorry about this Hikaru," Roy apologised to his junior, "Just sit tight until everything is over then we'll figure something out."

"It's alright sempai," Hikaru answered wearily, "I just wish we'd be able to fly together again after all these years."

"Don't sweat it I'm the best damn pilot in the fleet," Roy assured him.

Due to having no pressing social engagements, Ichika had already started his pre-flight checks. The first thing to come online was the electrical system, then the radio.

"This is Gunsight, Skull-1 do you copy over," the Macross was calling.

Gunsight was Macross' callsign. Seeing as it was mankind's flagship, he assumed they took overall command of the battle space.

"This is Skull-2, Skull-1 is starting his pre-flights over," Ichika half lied.

"Copy that Skull-2, we're forwarding the relevant mission data now."

As his engines warmed up and started, Ichika briefly glanced at one of the MFDs to read as he was done with his pre-flight check. Exactly five minutes ago, after having powered up everything on the Macross an unknown mass, presumably self-propelled ships, defolded around the moon. In response to this, an undiscovered subroutine of ASS-1 opened fire with a high energy weapon of extinction-level power. Civilian casualties in the line of fire were negligible though the trajectory of the beam is calculated to be on an intercept with the mass that defolded. Three minutes ago, ARMD-01 and ARMD-02 sustained significant damage after being hit by several directed energy weapon attacks with the expectation that mankind has just fired upon an alien space fleet and the latter was now returning fire. Planet side contact has been expected in as little as less than fifteen minutes and that Skull squadron, along with a Witch complement, is to form a combat air patrol around the Macross pending further developments.

Taxiing to a runway and taking off with ease, Ichika, was soon joined by the Major and two others that made up Skull Squadron.

"That was faster than normal boss," Bruce "Beefcake" Rudel greeted as they formed up, "Was a quickie wasn't it?"

"Seriously, you making us wait is seriously cramping my style," Eddie "Arschloch" Juutilainen continued.

"Cut the chatter you two," Ichika chastised.

"Right, Skull Squadron," Roy addressed them, "We just earned ourselves another CAP with Witches. Keep your eyes open and pray to God nothing happens."

"I'm just itching for some action," Eddie remarked despite Ichika's earlier rebuke.

"Don't tempt it Arschloch or you'll be going home in a box or with a black eye," Roy replied irritably, "Just shut up and enjoy the eye candy."

"This is Spellcaster-1, say again Skull-1," a displeased female voice came on.

Roy and Ichika knew that voice, given they had heard it yesterday. The latter of the two chose to keep quiet however.

"Just telling the boys to enjoy the scenery," Roy brushed it off, "Are you the C3 Witch?"

"Affirmative, callsign Spellcaster-1, we're getting reports of contact from the orbital fleets, definitely alien. Additional forces are scrambling."

"They headed our way aren't they?"

"Command believes so."

Streaks of light could be visible in the upper atmosphere. Whatever these aliens were they seemed determined to get to planetside.

"Call 'em in Spellcaster-1," Roy spoke.

Contemporary combat doctrine was to have the C3, Command, Control and Communication, Witch call in the targets for the fighters. Each Valkyrie was fully laden with missiles and was able to engage at beyond visual range. Combined with the sensor system on a C3 Witch, all the pilots had to do was pull the trigger. It wasn't that their target was not visible in this case however. Atmospheric re-entry lit them up like falling stars.

"They'll be in range in thirty seconds, switch to infrared tracking, I'll take care of their initial guidance to target so prepare to fire on my mark," Spellcaster-1 continued to bark out orders and after moment later, "Mark."

Nobody said a word. Everyone knew what they were doing as four dozen missiles were loosed in to the upper atmosphere. The Witches had flown behind them to ensure there was no friendly fire. It took the missiles several minutes before the explosions could be seen rippling through the first wave of contacts, even if it was only half of them.

"All targets have been hit, Spellcaster flight close in and engage," the C3 Witch called out again.

"Skull squadron don't let the sparkles show you up," was all Roy said.

The Witches were faster, breaking away at speeds that made Variable Fighter designers jealous despite their fully deployed IS equipment. Ichika swung his plane around, super-cruising like the rest of his squadron back towards the growing furball. Though dog-fighting was mainly in the realm of the Witches, it didn't mean that pilots couldn't do it. Landing to re-arm their missiles would take too much time anyway.

"Alright, -3, -4, work your magic."

With those two words, Skull squadron split in two and entered the fight. It wasn't hard to find targets really, but the fact that the bandits had come in from orbit made it hard to have an altitude advantage. That said, it looked like the enemy war machines were more comfortable on the ground that in the air. They were bipedal egg-shaped pods bristling with energy turrets along with conventional mass drivers. It didn't mean that they were sitting ducks on the ground however. The pods made use of cover and never stood still for long. They displayed some sort of ground tactics but ultimately it didn't matter when Ichika swooped down right on top of them with guns blazing. He was happy to note that the 55 millimetre rounds were more than sufficient to render them inert if not make them explode outright.

Roy was expertly weaving between them, using his familiarity of Macross City's layout to ambush them in GERWALK mode. Ichika's job was to make sure nothing jumped him. So far so good but it became clear that more and more, the furball was evolving in to a bloody melee. If the Macross was their main objective then it certainly didn't dissuade them from firing indiscriminately at everything that moved and shot at them. Fortunately most of the civilians had evacuated as the alarm sounded.

Unlike the energy weapons the Pods had, the main weapons of a Valkyrie were primarily mass based and thus required ammunition. With such a target rich environment, many weapons ran dry quickly and that was how most of the Valkyries were brought low. Melee Witches, of which his sister was one, didn't have that problem but they couldn't be everywhere. Still it was a thing to behold as Pod after Pod was neatly sliced in two, exploding in a mixture of fire and gore. Thus the Pods were manned and its pilot had bled and if it bleeds, they can kill it.

Even then, Skull Squadron had been in the air for longer than most others and if anything was in short supply it was both their fuel and ammo.

"Skull squad, report," Roy barked as he banked away in to cover.

"Skull-2 I'm Winchester here, fuel is bingo plus ten," Ichika reported his status as he followed suit.

"Skull-3 and -4 are bingo plus five," Bruce answered for both him and his wingman, "Skull-4 took a few hits and is combat ineffective so we're RTB."

"Alright," Roy took stock of the situation and called it a day, "Gunsight this is Skull Squadron, we're combat ineffective, requesting vector to disengage over."

"Skull Squadron this is Gunsight the way is clear through Bull's Eye 080, the Prometheus will take you in for rearmament and refuelling over," the Air Group Tactical Officer replied.

"Understood, out," Roy switched back to the squad comms, "You heard the lady we're pulling back to the Prometheus."

Their path of retreat led them above the airbase they took off from. It was then that Roy remembered something.

"Shit, Hikaru's still down there I think," he exclaimed.

"I'm pretty sure you started up the electrics try the radio," Ichika suggested.

"Hikaru come in," Roy called out smoothly, "Hikaru, come in. Answer damnit."

"Sempai?" came a familiar voice, "Is that you?"

"There's a switch at your one o'clock low next to the centre MFD, hit it," Roy instructed.

A small picture of the young stunt pilot appeared. The radio tagged him as VT-102.

"Good you're keyed in to our squad frequency."

"Thank goodness sempai," the young man seemed relieved, "There's been a lot of guys attaching stuff to the plane and there's this crazy lady telling me to take off and I don't know how."

"It's not safe on the ground any more, we need you get somewhere safe in that plane, I'll talk you through the start up."

"Alright but I don't think I can fight."

"There's a gun purge switch on your left console, last row, striped yellow button."

With a thunk the gunpod fell from the inert Valkyrie.

"Right Siscon, take the gun and cover us," Roy order.

Ichika clicked his microphone twice in reply, moving to take the fresh gunpod as Hikaru taxied away and ascending once more. There was still enough fuel for the impromptu CAP so he flew a racetrack pattern around the base. Staying still would have rendered him a sitting duck and Ichika was glad he didn't. Whatever these alien invaders were, they weren't stupid as three pods attempted to jump him from three different directions.

The switch to GERWALK was excruciatingly slow to him but in reality it was merely a second or two long. Rolling right as the transformation was completed, his gun aligned with one of his attackers for a brief moment. Ichika took the brief window of opportunity with a snap shot. It was burst that didn't even last for a second but expelled over a dozen rounds with just a pull of the trigger. He was rewarded with a kill and return fire from two other alien machines. One of them looked vaguely more humanoid, like some kind of Destroid that went on a diet. It was that one that scored a hit on his left manipulator blowing it clean off but thankfully not taking him with it.

The uneven weight distribution swerved him in to the ground despite the computer assisted flight controls. It'd take them a moment to recalibrate for flight without threat of kissing the ground. BATTROID mode was safer as he ran through the street, chased by two bandits. It seemed their fire wasn't as accurate as before as he ducked in to an adjacent street. With one arm, he returned fire, doing little but forcing them back in to the air and leaving him disadvantaged. He could still see them as they circled around him though. There wouldn't be time to get both of them at once but he'd damn well try. Propping up the gun pod with the stump of his left arm he drew a bead on the closest one that was coming in from the left side. A two second burst later, the alien Pod was riddled with 55mm rounds and Ichika swung around as fast as he could but he knew it would be too late. Time slowed as the incoming projectiles approached. Out of all of them, he picked out the one that seemed to be heading straight for him and pulled the trigger regardless of whether it was on target or not, if only in defiance.

Death didn't come for him though. The familiar round blue shield array sprung up before his eyes and absorbed the impacts. Shortly following was the enemy Destroid-lookalike disappearing in a large yellow beam of energy.

"You alright Ichika?" a familiar voice cried out.

"This is Skull-2," he replied, "Thanks for the save Spellcaster."

"I just saved your butt and you're still calling me that?" Huang seemed pissed.

"Sorry," he stuttered and choked as he tried to say her name, "Huang, thank you."

"Cut the chatter, Skull-2 are you fit for flight?" it was Spellcaster-1.

"I am."

"Form up on Spellcaster-6 and retreat from the airspace with her."

"I can still fight," he stated.

"Gunsight is initiating a fold, and you're holding it up by not being within the fold envelope," her argument trumped his.

"Yes ma'am," he replied half-surprised.

The actual theory involved in a fold was quite beyond Ichika. However he managed to sum up the salient points in his head. The Macross was going to create a sort of bubble shield around itself and use it to traverse a parallel dimension where they could fold the distance between here and their destination. This cut down travel time by several magnitudes as conventional sub-light travel was rather slow. Ichika presumed they were folding in to space, not that he was afraid or anything. The VF-1 Valkyrie was fully space-capable and this wasn't Ichika's first time in a zero-g environment. It would be his first time in a Valkyrie and in combat however but he quashed such anxiety away as he felt a foreign tug enveloping his body. In a flash of light, he disappeared along with the Macross and most of South Ataria Island.

-4,079 words-


End file.
